"Thank you ! Did we all read "Giovanni's Room" when we were teens ... and were slightly baffled and taken ?? Now I'm curious .. about this movie" - Martin

"We don’t deserve something this beautiful in 2018..." - Margaret

"I thought it was a terrific, lovely film but with some flaws. I don't think the voiceovers work well in the film and nor was it necessary since the film was already so infused with Baldwin's voice. " - Raul

For our halfway mark party we've covered biggest hits of multiple kinds, favorite actresses, and favorite actors. To be eligible for these "best ofs / favorites" whatever you'd like to call them lists, a film must have been released from January 1st through June 30th in 2018. Oscar holdovers like Loveless (Russia's nominee) don't count because the Oscar nomination permanently marks them as a 2017 film even though they weren't released until 2018. To conclude our halfway mark year in review party, here are seven favs from each category we hope Oscar will at least think about once the onslaught of fall prestige films happen. So, ready? Here we go...

Well, here we almost go. Before naming the "Best" a DISCLAIMER: I see far less films in the first half of the year than I do in the second so I still hope to catch up with these titles I missed before year's end: Lean on Pete, The Rider, Red Sparrow, Game Night, The Seagull, Hearts Beat Loud, You Were Never Really Here, and Death of Stalin.

The honors are listed alphabetically - no rankings. Why are there seven listed instead of the traditional five, you ask? Well, I like to keep an open mind and let films percolate for awhile before making final decisions on best of the best -- we all have until late December to do that! I should not because some people always seem confused about this that these are in no way shape or form Oscar predictions or things that necessarily have any shot whatsoever at Oscars. It's just fun to make lists and this is a handy reminder for myself as much as for anyone reading that there's more to any given film year than the last three months of it so it's good to jot things don't so that we don't forget them.

(Just for in-the-now clarification Ant-Man and the Wasp was released in July so ineligible for this particular prize but those visual effects were insanely fun and I think they're worthier of the Oscar nomination that won't come than Black Panther or Infinity War with the nominations that might)

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Black Panther

Disobedience

How to Talk to Girls at Parties

I Feel Pretty

Life of the Party

Oceans 8

Zama

ORIGINAL SCORE OR ADAPTED/SONG SCORE

Disobedience - Matthew Herbert

Hereditary - Colin Stetson

How to Talk to Girls at Parties - Various Artists

The Incredibles 2 - Michael Giacchino

Isle of Dogs - Alexandre Desplat

Oceans 8 - Daniel Pemberton

A Quiet Place - Marco Beltrami

SOUND MIXING

Annihilation

Black Panther

Hereditary

How to Talk to Girls at Parties

The Incredibles 2

A Quiet Place

Zama

SOUND EDITING

Avengers: Infinity War

Annihilation

Black Panther

Hereditary

The Incredibles 2

A Quiet Place

Solo

ORIGINAL SONG (It's difficult to keep track of which movies have original songs, so as always, if we've missed something obvious or one of these is not original, please do let us know)

"All the Stars" from Black Panther

"Pray for Me" from Black Panther

"Eat Me Alive" from How to Talk to Girls at Parties

"Here Comes Elastigirl" from The Incredibles 2

"Come Sun or Come Rain" from Saturday Church

"So Lost Without You" from Saturday Church

"Flower of the Universe" from A Wrinkle in Time

THOUGHTS? OBJECTIONS? SECONDS? Which film achievements you've seen thus far this year do you hold most dear?

I liked "Saturday Church" but actually thought it would function better if they cut the musical numbers entirely. They alternated between being either too literal or adding sudden depth/perspective that seemed too external from the actual characters' circumstances.

A QUIET PLACE for the sound mixing category is really bothering me. That score is unnecessary and took me out of the movie in parts that should have been much more tense. I think it kinda botches its reason for existence as a play on silence.

Surprised at all the Black Panther love but no mention of its wonderful score! In my opinion one of its best aspects! Not to say it doesn't deserve all the love (it does), but that score would be among the top 3 things for me to highlight.

Please never apologise for watching or rewarding films that are just plain fun! Not everything f needs to challenge us or break new barriers and boundaries! The simple formula works for a reason and it’s fine to love it when the actors are having a blast

Incredible how the Best Song category is ignored by filmmakers and studios. Some movies that got lost in time are remembered/mentioned today for a single nomination/award in this category like Thank God It's Friday(1978),Ice Castles (1978), Yes, Giorgio(1982), Endless Love (1981),The Little Ark(1972), The Magic of Lassie(1978),The Big Broadcast of 1938(1938), etc, etc... Producers/directors of superhero films should invest in this category instead of trying Best Picture in wich the spot seems more difficult.

Also, although Annihalation was a fun, thrilling film with good performances and especially great visual effects, I read the source material, and it’s a terrible adaption. In fact, only the main plot of the film is similar to the book. They pretty much gutted the source material. I see it popping up on lists for a potential Adapted Screenplay nomination, and I’m like “No! People please read the source material! Compare the film with the book!”

Glad you left out the disappointing A Wrinkle in Time in most categories. The only thing that had going for it was some pretty good special effects.

And yes, Black Panther is this year’s Deadpool/Wonder Woman. And it was a great film, but the other two were sooooo much better. I would hate to see it get nominations from the Academy when the other two did not. And if it does so BECAUSE the other two didn’t, that’ll be even worse

After all the fanfare around Black Panther - deserved fanfare not only for the qualities of the film but also for the issues of diversity and inclusion - everyone is seeing that it's a good movie and that's it. Better to wait for the next attractions to come. Certainly among them eight, nine or ten films for the vacancy in the main category of the Oscars. I think Black Panther has already fulfilled his function as a barrier breaker in many ways.

Has ‘Leave No Trace’ opened in the US yet? A tremendous achievement by Debra Granik & the leads. Ben Foster is my pick for best actor so far, Thomasin McKenzie also fantastic (& would top my list if it weren’t for Collette).

Choog -- another film i'll have to add to my list. damn that list keeps growing. Just looked it up. Apparently that film did open on June 29th so it would be eligible for halfway honors had I seen it quickly enough.

While LOVELESS, FANTASTIC WOMAN, THE SQUARE and THE INSULT did get 2017 releases, ON BODY AND SOUL did not, so it would be eligible for your Too 10 list (it's my #1 of the year. It opened in January in L.A. before Netflix).

JoeS - Even though On Body and Soul did not get a 2017 release, it was successfully nominated and therefore not eligible in 2018. Only submissions that were not nominated can be eligible in 2018 (if they get a release) such as A Ciambra or Summer 1993. It's a Catch 22. For example, if City of God had been nominated in 2002, it would not have been eligible in 2003, even though that was the year of its commercial run in the USA. Many pointed out that it was lucky that it had been passed over in 2002.